Is the legitimacy debate relevant?

TURKEY - In Brief 19 Apr 2017 by Atilla Yesilada

---

It is my duty to provide objective and relevant coverage of political events in Turkey. Objectively speaking, I see evidence serious enough to suggest that voting irregularities in the presidential referendum warrant a very serious probe. But, is the legitimacy of the ballot relevant? Could the opposition achieve any results by prolonging its objections? After Moody’s comments yesterday, of which I can only access the introductory paragraph, I feel it is relevant to extend my coverage of the legitimacy debate. The Turkish version of Moody’s statement points that the narrow referendum victory creates stress on credibility of the government, raising uncertainty. The opening paragraph in its website reads: “The slim margin of support for President Erdogan’s bid for greater authority over Turkey's parliament and judiciary means that the government is likely to remain focused on domestic political and geopolitical issues, limiting its ability to implement structural reforms to reduce the country's vulnerability to external shocks, a factor that weighs heavily on Turkey's sovereign creditworthiness”. Let’s move on to the legitimacy issue. Allow me to summarize my findings briefly, for which I will provide proof in the upcoming Weekly. It is certain that High Election Council (HEC) committed a grave violation of Electoral Law by declaring unstamped ballots eligible.There is no consistent precedent, in the past it has made rulings in both directions. It has failed the communication test and PR, reinforcing the deep sense of unfairness among the NO camp.So far, I don’t find convincing evidence that HEC acted in bad faith or has been part of a conspiracy to defraud the voters. Y...